Money Laundering
California man admits to laundering crypto stolen in $230M heist
A 45-year-old from Irvine, California, has pleaded guilty to laundering at least $25 million stolen in a massive $230 million cryptocurrency heist. Kunal Mehta (also known as “Papa,” “The Accountant,” and “Shrek”) is the eighth defendant to plead guilty for his participation in this scheme following charges brought by the Department of Justice in May […]
US sanctions North Korean bankers linked to cybercrime, IT worker fraud
The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on two North Korean financial institutions and eight individuals involved in laundering cryptocurrency stolen in cybercrime and fraudulent IT worker schemes. The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Ryujong Credit Bank, a North Korea-based financial institution linked to sanctions-evasion activities between North Korea and China, including money laundering. OFAC […]
US targets North Korean IT worker army with new sanctions
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned two individuals and two companies associated with North Korean IT worker schemes that operate at the expense of American organizations. These schemes involve placing in U.S. firms skilled tech workers with stolen or fabricated identities and using so-called “laptop farms” to hide the true location of the […]
Hacker steals $27 million in BigONE exchange crypto breach
Cryptocurrency exchange BigONE disclosed that hackers stole various digital assets valued at $27 million in an attack yesterday. The platform announced that private keys and user data remain unaffected by the intrusion and any customers that incurred losses will be reimbursed from available reserves. “In the early hours of July 16, BigONE detected abnormal movements involving […]
US recovers $225 million of crypto stolen in investment scams
The U.S. Department of Justice has seized more than $225 million in cryptocurrency linked to investment fraud and money laundering operations, the largest crypto seizure in the history of the U.S. Secret Service. The state’s investigators used blockchain analysis to trace the funds stolen from over 400 victims, which were then laundered through a complex […]
Five plead guilty to laundering $36 million stolen in investment scams
Five men from China, the United States, and Turkey pleaded guilty to their involvement in an international crime ring and laundering nearly $37 million stolen from U.S. victims in cryptocurrency investment scams carried out from Cambodia. Accomplices living abroad reached out to targets in the United States via unsolicited social media, phone calls, text messages, […]
Germany takes down eXch cryptocurrency exchange, seizes servers
The Federal police in Germany (BKA) seized the server infrastructure and shut down the ‘eXch’ cryptocurrency exchange platform for alleged money laundering cybercrime proceeds. During the law enforcement operation, the authorities also seized eight terabytes of data and cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, and Dash) worth approximately $38,000,000, making this the third largest seizure of digital assets […]
Grinex exchange suspected rebrand of sanctioned Garantex crypto firm
A new cryptocurrency exchange named Grinex is believed to be a rebrand of Garantex, a Russian cryptocurrency exchange whose domains were seized by the U.S. authorities and an admin arrested. According to a new report by blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs, Grinex shows strong ties to Garantex’s previous operations but has not determined if it’s […]
OKX suspends DEX aggregator after Lazarus hackers try to launder funds
OKX Web3 has decided to suspend its DEX aggregator services to implement security upgrades following reports of abuse by the notorious North Korean Lazarus hackers, who recently conducted a $1.5 billion crypto heist. OKX is a leading global cryptocurrency exchange that offers a wide range of trading options, including spot and derivatives trading and decentralized […]
Ransomware payments fell by 35% in 2024, totalling $813,550,000
Payments to ransomware actors decreased 35% year-over-year in 2024, totaling $813.55 million, down from $1.25 billion recorded in 2023. Additionally, only about 30% of victims engaged in negotiations with ransomware actors ended up paying any ransom to them. These figures are reported by blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis, underlining a significant decline in an otherwise record-breaking year for […]